Nature Theater of Oklahoma

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This sounds promising: «A man lost and drowning at sea is rescued by a mysterious and beautiful woman, possibly a phantom or a mermaid, who escorts him to an island ruled by a despotic King and Queen. They name their newly discovered castaway Burt Turrido, and make him their slave, and – when he proves too inept at that – their prisoner. But this is an opera, and the drama doesn't stop there – there's yet to come still a cataclysmic storm, an immaculate pregnancy, a murder, a love triangle, a mock execution, a birth, an alien invasion and kidnapping, and we promise you it's not over until someone finally gets impaled on a narwhal tusk.»

So much for the synopsis of «Burt Turrido. An Opera» by the Nature Theater of Oklahoma. The narwhal eventually shows up – after three whole hours. Aficionados of this New York company also know: Apart from the duration, this folk-music-opera has very little in common with the traditional art form of opera. «Burt Turrido» is a Wild West-style ride which often escapes the cliff of cliché within a whisker. The directorial duo Kelly Copper and Pavol Liska unabashedly dismantle the genre's traditional structures and forms in order to reassemble the pieces with passion, humour and courageous risk-taking. (esc)